Matthew Hanover and Effective Book Promotion
Matthew Hanover and his books came to my attention (if I recall correctly) when I saw his book Not Famous in one of the book promo e-mails I receive. I liked the cover and blurb…
Self-Publishing QuickCraft: GERMS OF WAR by Ketan Desai and Verisimilitude
Check out the video version of this essay! Today we’re talking about the medical thriller Germs of War. The author’s description is short, sweet, and…descriptive. See what I mean? It’s like Outbreak meets The…
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Self-Publishing Writing Craft: Jana Aston’s WRONG and Humor in Fiction
Check out the video version of this essay! Yes, there are a million exceptions, but there’s an overall truth: literary fiction often lacks humor. Fun and funny doesn’t often win National Book Awards. As…
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Ralph Rotten and the Function of the Narrator
Check out the video version of this essay! When you were a kid, was there any better activity than storytime? You would sit cross-legged on the floor and a teacher or a nice librarian…
Read MoreSelf-Publishing Writing Craft: Jenny B. Jones’ IN BETWEEN and Strong, Vulnerable Protagonists
Check out the video version of this essay! When you think about it, in some ways, Superman isn’t a very compelling character on his own. He’s Superman. He’s impervious to bullets. He can fly away…
The Structure of a Young Adult Thriller: L.E. Flynn’s Last Girl Lied To
Check out the video version of the essay! How do you know a book is good? For me, it’s when you love it so much that you’re not even jealous that the author is more…
Carissa Andrews, PENDOMUS, and Lessons for Our Own Self-Publishing
Watch the video version! Indie and self-publishing is at once frustrating and satisfying. I love looking at my Kobo dashboard and seeing that someone in Nigeria or Bangladesh has downloaded my work. On the other…
Why I Did That: The Opening of My “I Want” Song
Watch the video version! I had the tremendous honor of earning my Creative Writing MFA at Ohio State. That was such a special time for me, and no matter…whatever, I will always be grateful that…
Lessons from Romance: How to Start a Story with Christy Jeffries’ IT STARTED WITH A PREGNANCY
Romance novels often get a bad rap in some writing circles. The criticism is fair in some ways, and unfair in many others. While Harlequin’s latest category romance is unlikely to win a Man Booker…
What I Love about the Book Description of Abbie Emmons’s 100 DAYS OF SUNLIGHT
Writing a novel is hard. Writing a book description is even harder. Let’s take a look at an example and see what we can learn!
